October 9, 2016
No.231
At the invitation of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan), a three-member delegation from the German Bundestag, led by Anita Schäfer, is visiting Taiwan from October 9 to 13, 2016 to attend National Day celebrations and associated activities. The purpose of the visit is to gain a better understanding of Taiwan’s political, economic and social development, as well as the current state of cross-strait relations. The other two members of the delegation are Oliver Grundmann and Michael Vietz.
In addition to attending the ROC National Day celebrations, the delegation will call at the Legislative Yuan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Council of Agriculture, the Mainland Affairs Council, the German Institute Taipei, and the German Trade Office Taipei, as well as visit local enterprises. The delegates will also attend a reception hosted by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Chih-Chung Wu, and visit various sites of economic and cultural interest such as the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, the Taiwan Excellence Pavilion and Longshan Temple, as well as fly to Kinmen.
Germany is Taiwan’s largest trading partner in Europe, while Taiwan is Germany’s fifth-largest trading partner in Asia, with two-way trade reaching US$14.6 billion in 2015. In recent years, the two sides have engaged in close exchanges in such fields as economics and trade, science and technology, culture, and tourism.
In September 2015, the ROC Ministry of Education and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany signed a letter of intent on deepening cooperation in education. Shortly after, in October 2015, the ROC Food and Drug Administration signed a joint declaration with the German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices intended to enhance bilateral cooperation involving drugs and medical equipment. This year, on March 24, the two governments agreed to expand each side’s annual quota for the bilateral youth working holiday program from 300 to 500 persons (retroactively effective from October 11, 2015), while on September 1 the two sides also signed a letter of intent on enhancing bilateral cooperation in high tech-related fields. (E)